First day of flower (anthesis) for Poa pratensis (Kentucky blue-grass) in City of Green Bay. The flowers have been at full size for at least 8-10 days, but today is the first day they have begun to release pollen (except for small numbers in unusually favorable positions, such as at the base of a south-facing wall). You may now begin to feel symptoms if you are allergic to this pollen, and many people will now report "summer colds", without knowing (or admitting) that it is a reaction to pollen. Poa pratensis is extremely common and numerous in our area, so the amount of pollen produced is very large.

Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) is mostly done flowering. There will continue to be a small number of flowering individuals throughout summer and into fall, but the big flowering display is over for the year.

Usually the large white trilliums turn pink/rose color toward the end of the flowering season, but this year most are just shriveling up, and sometimes turning pale brown. It may be due to the relatively dry weather recently.

May 22

Saw my first monarch butterfly of the year today, along Bairds Creek, City of Green Bay (Joel Trick).

May 21

Acer saccharinum (Silver maple)fruit are now being dispersed in the City of Green Bay. The fruit are samaras--the little helicopter style objects that spin as they fall. They will drop some immature fruits earlier, but these are now full-size and in considerable numbers.

I received my first mosquito bite today on UWGB. I have been seeing them since 5/11 and even brushecd a few off before today, but this is my first bite. UWGB seems to run a bit later on mosquitos than many surrounding areas.

I saw a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on UWGB today.

Carp are spawning noisily in Green Bay (I may well have missed the start).

May 18

Hesperis matronalis (dame's-rocket) in flower UWGB. I've seen some earlier elsewhere, but this is my regular location.

First open flowers on Lonicera X bella (showy bush honeysuckle). Silene latifolia (bladder campion) also in flower.
First day for Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry). I suspect that there were earlier flowers on other sites, but this is for a fixed site that is monitored every year.

First day for release of the fruits of Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen). This is similar to the "cotton" that is released a little later by Populus deltoides, our eastern cottonwoods. Populus deltoides doesn't start to release their "cotton" for about 3 weeks after Populus tremuloides starts. The cotton is really just a tuft of hairs attached to each seed to aid in wind dispersal of the seed.

Nineteen species of warblers at Point au Sable today, along with two Orchard Orioles (male and female), Brown County (Joan Berkopec).

The forest canopy is still not filled in, but you can definitely feel the effect of the small, emerging leaves in Mahon Woods on the Cofrin Arboretum (UW-Green Bay campus).

I saw my first Baltimore Oriole today as well as a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the lilac flowers, City of Green Bay (Dave Parsons).

Some early plants are now done flowering on UWGB, including Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot) and both Erythronium (trout lilies) species. That is to say that they have lost heir petals. They will continue to develop fruit for several weeks. Cardamine douglassii (purple spring-cress), Cardamine concatenata (cut-leaved toothwort) and Cardamine diphylla (broad-leaved toothwort) are also nearly done flowering.

May 07

First day of flower for Convallaria majalus (lily-of-the-valley), UWGB.

May 06

Today is the first day of fully open flowers for Malus pumila (apple) and Syringa vulgaris (lilac), UWGB.

Today we had our first returning Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting, Town of Cooperstown, Manitowoc County (Joel Trick).

May 0

New arrivals today included White-crowned Sparrow, Black & white Warbler and Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Town of Cooperstown, Manitowoc County (Joel Trick).